Peter Thomson takes Tiger Woods to task for attitude

The great Australian golfer Peter Thomson, winner of five Open Championships
from 1954-1965, turns 80 today and has lost none of his old pepper.

Grand master: Peter Thomson holds up the Claret Jug after winning the Open for the fifth time in 1965Photo: PA

By Mark Reason

3:00PM BST 22 Aug 2009

The 'Melbourne Tiger' tweaked the tail of the modern day Tiger and a couple of other big beasts when he talked to the TelegraphSport from his Melbourne offices this week.

Thomson is a quite remarkable man. He still plays three rounds of golf a week off a handicap of five and works in the offices of his course design company, Thomson Perrett & Lobb, for five days out of seven. He has impeccable manners and he demands the same standards of others.

Tiger Woods has not been measuring up lately. Thomson said: "Woods is the major professional in his sport. No one else is so intense and leaves so little to chance. He'll win most of the events he plays in until he gets sick of it.

"He will probably win five Opens in his career before he stops, but he's up against an increasing number of young people who are matching him. He will find it harder and harder.

"I will add one other thing. I wish he'd smile more. He injures his image by being morose and petulant. There is also very little consideration for the fellow he is playing with. He could show more humility."

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Woods very rarely bothers with what people say about him, but when as significant a figure as Thomson feels the need to say something, Tiger may take heed. Earl Woods might have pulled Tiger up in the past for some of his behaviour this year, but there are now too many sycophants around him.

The last round of the PGA mattered more than usual because Thomson did so much to foster Asian golf. In 1960 Thomson played some exhibition matches in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. He was so impressed by the local fervour that he encouraged a number of Asian countries to set up their own Opens and persuaded some of the top players to take part.

He said of Y E Yang's victory: "I was thrilled to see him win and full marks for the strength of character and steely nerve. We do now expect a rush in Asian golf, like my dream all those years ago.

"China will now come into the picture; there is a boom in course-building and there are 600 currently planned over there. We have six on the ground and six in the pipeline. The outcome of it all will be 100 top Chinese golfers."

Thomson acknowledged that golf's bid for inclusion in the Olympics would further boost golf's funding by the Asian countries, but described it as "a doubtful motive". He regards the Open as "golf's Olympics".

Thomson is a man of the world. The first truly global golfer, he stood for the Australian parliament and still writes for various magazines and newspapers. He will celebrate the day at home with his four children and 11 grandchildren.

Paying tribute to Thomson, Jack Nicklaus said: "I crawled on my hands and knees up the back of one tee (at the 1957 US Open) to watch Peter Thomson and Roberto De Vicenzo tee off. At that age, when you watched the swings of great players, you could not help but go out the next day or so and emulate them. I know I did."

Peter Alliss said: "I first saw him on June 16, 1951, playing in the Penfold Festival of Britain tournament. I can't believe Peter is 80. He always played with a jaunty spirit, which I found most attractive. I don't think the Americans ever really admitted what a great player he was.

"I particularly was delighted when he went over as a Senior, setting all sorts of records, winning nine events in a season and then casually washing his hands of it, saying, 'Well, that's it, you can see I can play a bit!' I don't think he ever bothered to return, which I thought was typical of Peter Thomson.

Always his own man, Thomson is puzzled by the modern obsession with swing coaches. He said: "Golf's a game of scoring. An hour spent playing six holes is 100 times more valuable than 50 practice balls.

"To get to the top you have to be totally self-reliant. If you need to ring someone up on the phone and say: '?I can't hit my wedges', you won't solve the problem.

"It's absurd that the world's greatest golfer is taking lessons. A pro should puzzle it out for himself. The young players need to find another system."

Thomson may just have solved Britain's absence of majors. Throw out the coaches and start thinking for yourselves, lads.

Happy birthday, Mr Thomson. Four-score years of talking sense and getting on with stuff. Must be an Aussie.